Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com
Published - Saturday, July 26, 2008
Former area prep standouts chasing County Am title
They had functioned as a unit for so long that it just came naturally.
So maybe it was a day when Katie Tabbert and McKenzie Holthaus weren’t on the same side. They recently joined
former Onalaska High School girls golf teammates Emily Swift and Alli Plath for a round at Trempealeau Mountain Golf Club. It was a day in which they were golfing as individuals.
But when the foursome reached the clubhouse, force of habit kicked in. Tabbert said she, Holthaus, Swift and Plath combined their scores to see what they would have shot as a team.
For a group that helped Onalaska to a Division 1 runner-up finish at the 2007 WIAA state tournament, Tabbert says old habits die hard.
“It (competing against each other) is kind of a weird feeling. We’re so used to playing together as a team,” Tabbert said. “It’s a different vibe.”
Imagine, then, how Tabbert and Holthaus, both 2008 Onalaska graduates, and former teammate Katie Swift, a 2007 Onalaska graduate, will feel Sunday at the La Crosse Tribune/Midwest Professional Appraisal, Inc. Women’s County Amateur Golf Championship.
They’ll share the goal of trying to beat two-time defending champion Liz Warren, a Central graduate who currently competes for NCAA Division I Hofstra University. But they also will be trying to outdo each other at the same time.
You could make a case for each player leaving The Golf Club at Cedar Creek in Onalaska, Wis., as the champion. Tabbert, who will compete this fall for Division I UW-Green Bay, finished sixth individually at last year’s state meet and was named second-team All-State by the Wisconsin High School Golf Coaches Association.
Holthaus, a third-team All-State selection by the WHSGCA, will compete for Division II Upper Iowa University. Katie Swift, who helped Onalaska to a Division 1 runner-up finish at the 2006 WIAA state tournament, will be a sophomore on the UW-Eau Claire women’s golf team. The Blugolds finished 13th at the Division III Championship this past spring.
Holthaus savors the time she’s gotten to play with both Tabbert and Katie Swift because they’ve all become good friends. But she also knows there are other benefits to golfing with them.
“I think playing against people like (Tabbert and Katie Swift) has helped me tremendously. I know they’ve helped me step up my game,” Holthaus said. “We’ve always pushed each other, and that’s made us all better.”
Tabbert, Holthaus and Katie Swift all could be good enough to win Sunday. But they still have a sense of camaraderie and a willingness to pull for each other.
“I think we’ll all have fun,” Katie Swift said. “We all want to play our best and win. But at the same time, we want each other to do well, too.”
Kirk Bey can be reached at (608) 791-8414, or at kbey@lacrossetribune.com
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